Unplanned Hospital Readmissions After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in the Era of New-Generation Devices

OBJECTIVES

Unplanned hospital readmissions after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are frequent and have been associated with a poor prognosis. We sought to determine the trends in the incidence and causes of unplanned hospital readmission after TAVR in patients receiving new-generation devices (NGDs) vs early-generation devices (EGDs).

METHODS

The study population consisted of 1802 consecutive TAVR recipients (863 EGDs and 939 NGDs). Early and late readmissions were defined as those occurring ≤30 days and >30 days to 1-year post TAVR, respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 986 unplanned hospital readmissions (cardiac cause, 38.4%; non-cardiac cause, 61.6%) were recorded at a median time of 110 days (interquartile range [IQR], 37-217) post TAVR. The rates of early (12.3% vs 9.4%; P=.046) and late (39.1% vs 31.6%; P<.01) readmission were lower in the NGD population. In the NGD group, major/life-threatening periprocedural bleeding (hazard ratio [HR], 2.40, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-5.42; P=.04) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min at hospital discharge (HR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.15-2.83; P=.01) were associated with an increased risk of early readmission post TAVR. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.07-1.88; P=.02), eGFR <60 mL/min (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.11-1.84; P<.01), and combining antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.01-1.85; P=.04) determined an increased risk of late readmission.

CONCLUSIONS

TAVR recipients receiving NGDs exhibited a significant but modest reduction in unplanned hospital readmissions, with about one-third of patients still requiring rehospitalization at 1-year follow-up in the contemporary TAVR era. Non-cardiac comorbidities, periprocedural bleeding events, and intensive antithrombotic therapy determined an increased risk.

Early clinical and haemodynamic matched comparison of balloon-expandable valves

OBJECTIVES

The balloon-expandable Sapien-3 valve demonstrated superior results in terms of residual aortic regurgitation when compared with self-expandable devices. We aimed to compare for the first-time early outcomes of Sapien-3 transcatheter heart valve (THV) with the balloon-expandable Myval device.

METHODS

Consecutive real-world patients from nine European institutions with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis treated either with Sapien-3 or Myval THV devices after June 2018 were compared. Early clinical outcomes were prospectively gathered and blinded analysis of 30-day echocardiography was conducted. Matching for the following variables was performed: age, body surface area, Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk score, left ventricular function, mean gradient, transfemoral approach, aortic valvular calcium, aortic annulus mean diameter, area and eccentricity index.

RESULTS

A total of 416 patients treated either with the Sapien-3 (n=286, 68.7%) or with Myval THV (n=130, 31.3%) were included and 103 pairs compared after matching. Baseline characteristics were similar. Procedural success rate (Sapien-3: 94.2%; Myval: 93.2%, p=0.219), 30-day mortality (Sapien-3: 2.9%; Myval: 0.97%, p=0.625), clinical efficacy (12.6 vs 4.9%, p=0.057) and early safety (12.6 vs 4.9%, p=0.096) were comparable. There was a lower need for new permanent pacemaker (15.5 vs 5.8% p=0.020) with Myval. No significant differences were found in terms of ≥moderate aortic regurgitation (1% for Sapien-3, 0% for Myval, p=0.314), but mean gradients were higher following Sapien-3 than after Myval (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The new Myval balloon-expandable THV was favourable in terms of safety, with low rate of permanent pacemaker and with favourable residual gradients and paravalvular leak rate according to blinded echocardiographic analysis.

The SADDEN DEATH Study: Results from a Pilot Study in Non-ICU COVID-19 Spanish Patients

Introduction: The worldwide pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel infection with serious clinical manifestations, including death. Our aim is to describe the first non-ICU Spanish deceased series with COVID-19, comparing specifically between unexpected and expected deaths. Methods: In this single-centre study, all deceased inpatients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who had died from March 4 to April 16, 2020 were consecutively included. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data, were analyzed and compared between groups. Factors associated with unexpected death were identified by multivariable logistic regression methods. Results: In total, 324 deceased patients were included. Median age was 82 years (IQR 76–87); 55.9% males. The most common cardiovascular risk factors were hypertension (78.4%), hyperlipidemia (57.7%), and diabetes (34.3%). Other common comorbidities were chronic kidney disease (40.1%), chronic pulmonary disease (30.3%), active cancer (13%), and immunosuppression (13%). The Confusion, BUN, Respiratory Rate, Systolic BP and age ≥65 (CURB-65) score at admission was >2 in 40.7% of patients. During hospitalization, 77.8% of patients received antivirals, 43.3% systemic corticosteroids, and 22.2% full anticoagulation. The rate of bacterial co-infection was 5.5%, and 105 (32.4%) patients had an increased level of troponin I. The median time from initiation of therapy to death was 5 days (IQR 3.0–8.0). In 45 patients (13.9%), the death was exclusively attributed to COVID-19, and in 254 patients (78.4%), both COVID-19 and the clinical status before admission contributed to death. Progressive respiratory failure was the most frequent cause of death (92.0%). Twenty-five patients (7.7%) had an unexpected death. Factors independently associated with unexpected death were male sex, chronic kidney disease, insulin-treated diabetes, and functional independence. Conclusions: This case series provides in-depth characterization of hospitalized non-ICU COVID-19 patients who died in Madrid. Male sex, insulin-treated diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and independency for activities of daily living are predictors of unexpected death.

P5477Usefulness of hypocalcemia at admission as a prognostic marker in patients with acute coronary syndromes

Background

Few studies have focused on the role of serum calcium levels (SCa) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Purpose

This study aimed to analyze the value of SCa as a prognostic marker in patients with AMI, including both with or without ST elevation.

Methods

From January-2015 to December-2017, all consecutive patients with AMI admitted to a tertiary care hospital were included. For the purpose of this study, total SCa levels were recorded at admission in each patient. Blood samples were obtained at the first medical contact when the patient arrived to the hospital. Patients were classified according to quartiles depending on their SCa at admission: Q1, under 8.3 mg/dl (N=300); Q2, between 8.4–8.7 mg/dl (N=264); Q3, between 8.8–9.1 mg/dl (N=279) and Q4, over 9.1 mg/dl (N=283).

Results

A total cohort of 1126 patients was included, 679 (60.3%) had STEMI and 447 (39.7%) were NSTEMI patients. Patients in the Q1 had more in-hospital complications, such as heart failure, bleeding events, new onset AMI, atrioventricular block and contrast induced nephropathy. Patients in the Q1 had higher in-hospital and one-year mortality as compared to that of patients in the Q2-Q4. After multivariate adjustment (Table), low SCa (<8.3mg/dl) remained as an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (OR 2.91, 95% CI (1.15–7.41), p=0.025). These results were consistent in STEMI and NSTEMI patients.

Multivariable analysis Variable OR (95% CI) p GRACE score 1.00 (0.99–1.02) 0.727 CRUSADE score 1.03 (1.01–1.06) 0.011 Age (per year) 1.05 (1.00–1.09) 0.034 STEMI 1.35 (0.41–4.46) 0.617 Diabetes 2.57 (0.97–6.79) 0.056 Low SCa (<8.3) 2.91 (1.15–7.41) 0.025 Killip class at admission   1 Reference   2 4.73 (1.31–17.1) 0.018   3 6.83 (1.70–27.5) 0.007   4 9.83 (1.44–67.1) 0.020 STEMI: ST segment elevation myocardial infarction; SCa: Serum calcium levels; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Conclusion

In patients with AMI, low SCa levels at admission (<8.3mg/dl) are independently associated with higher mortality.